Regions

A new "Plan B" for Brussels' policies toward Kiev

After the manipulated elections to Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada in October 2012, Brussels' relations with Kiev are deadlocked. Ukraine is not fulfilling the signing conditions for the pre-initialed Association Agreement with the EU. Here an eight-point outline of further and alternative actions for the European Union.

ip journal

The time is ripe for the West to support Ukrainian civil society rather than its oligarchs

Past attempts to support Ukrainian reform have rarely met with success, in part because the international community often overlooked the central role played by Ukraine’s growing civil society. Further strengthening it now should be one starting point for renewed engagement, while assistance for Ukraine’s military reforms should be another.

ip journal

Closer EU-EEU ties will not lead to a rapprochement with Russia

The main cause of the conflict between Russia and the West lies in the internal legitimization deficit of Putin’s own system. A closer cooperation with Moscow’s Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) would not only undermine the EU’s values – the Kremlin is simply not interested. A reply to Mark Leonard’s and Ivan Krastev’s “The New European Disorder.”

ip journal

The West needs a new approach to nuclear arms control

“Nuclear disarmament” has always sounded better in theory than in practice. With more countries flexing their nuclear muscle – especially Russia – a more realistic strategy to manage nuclear arms is necessary. The West must fundamentally re-think means and ends.

ip journal

Russia's pursuit of politically motivated yet economically irrational behavior has shown that decades of attempted economic integration between Russia and the West have failed. Attempts to engage Moscow through its Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) look similarly futile. Germany's retreat from this strategy will have long-term consequences for both financial and political investment in Russia.

ip journal

The new Saudi strategy shakes Russia, Iran, and Venezuela, but they are not its real targets

Since July 2014 the price of oil has been falling, and a new OPEC strategy pushed through by Saudi oil minister Ali Al-Naimi makes a reversal unlikely in the near future. OPEC felt obliged to defend its market share against US fracking firms and other “marginal producers.” The pain felt in Moscow, Tehran, and Caracas is an unintended – if not unwelcome – byproduct.

ip journal

Greece's election forces Germany to once again confront the possibility of a Grexit

The far left Syriza party is poised to win January 25 parliamentary elections in Greece, and will likely demand a renegotiation of the terms of its continued eurozone membership if it does. Angela Merkel's government in Germany, fearing the precedent this would set for other crisis countries, seems willing to let Greece go instead.